For a particular design of an ultra-high-density dynamic random access memory, the integration of a capacitor having a high-permittivity dielectric layer in a CMOS process flow requires that contact be made between a platinum lower capacitor plate and a polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) plug which makes contact to the storage node junction of the cell access transistor. The dielectric layer, which may be a perovskite oxide such as barium strontium titanate, is deposited at high temperatures in an ambient oxygen.
There are two problems inherent to the dielectric deposition process. The first problem is that the high temperature required for the deposition will initiate a reaction between platinum and silicon, thus consuming the platinum capacitor plate and contaminating the capacitor with silicon. It is, therefore necessary to utilize an electrically conductive diffusion barrier between the platinum and the polysilicon. The second problem is that oxygen will diffuse through the platinum layer and form an insulative silicon dioxide layer between the polysilicon plug and the platinum layer. In such a case, the lower plate of the capacitor will not be in electrical contact with the storage-node junction. Thus the diffusion barrier must also be impermeable to oxygen.
Reactively sputtered titanium nitride has been used extensively as a barrier layer in integrated circuits. However, reactively sputtered titanium nitride has a crystalline structure and does not exhibit good step coverage-particularly in deep contact openings. The crystal boundaries associated with such a structure tend to promote ionic and atomic migration. Given this fact, the polysilicon plugs will not be sufficiently protected from reaction with the platinum capacitor plate or with oxygen.
Titanium nitride deposited via low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using tetrakis-dimethylamidotitanium or related compounds as the sole precursor is an amorphous material, having no crystal structure and, therefore, no crystal grain boundaries to facilitate atomic and ionic diffusion. However, titanium nitride films deposited via LPCVD have a high carbon content. From X-Ray spectrographic analysis, it appears that some of the carbon atoms have reacted with the titanium to form titanium carbide. The balance of the carbon atoms appears to be unreacted, but trapped, nevertheless, in the titanium nitride/titanium carbide matrix. It is hypothesized that a crystalline structure fails to form because the presence of carbon interferes with crystal nucleation. The presence of carbon, though likely responsible for the amorphous structure of the film (a beneficial quality), is also problematic, as it greatly increases the sheet resistance of the film. In addition, when the carbon-containing films are subjected to high temperatures in the presence of oxygen, the films become perforated and, hence, worthless as barrier films. The perforation phenomenon may be caused by the explosive formation of carbon dioxide gas within the film.
What is needed is a way to combine the beneficial qualities of both reactively-sputtered titanium nitride with those of titanium nitride deposited via LPCVD.